How to Write a “Sticky” Blog Post

Blog posts are short, but they can be powerful. And the most powerful posts that you read are the ones that stick with you, that you remember later or end up retelling to someone over dinner. What is it about those posts that makes them so “sticky”? And how can you harness that power for yourself?

Much of the answer is found in Chip and Dan Heath’s book Made to Stick. An eminently readable book itself, this book describes how to communicate ideas in ways that stick with people. After looking at tall tales, fables, and urban legends, the Heath brothers came up with a recipe for evaluating and encouraging sticky stories in all forms of communication, from ad campaigns to blog posts.

This formula is called SUCCESs, and it’s an acronym for the words Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotional, and Stories. These are six elements incorporated into sticky ideas, and they will help your blog posts stick, too.

Simplicity

At the end of the day, you want people who have read your blog post to know one thing. Decide that most important objective, and then find ways to state it in the simplest way possible.

Of course, this doesn’t mean to be content with platitudes or to make the rest of the post’s content mediocre. What it does mean is that you need to be aware of the post’s objective so that the rest of your writing can support it fully.

Unexpectedness

People remember things that surprise them. A company that accepts any returned item, no matter how much it has been used? A memory card that stores more than early computers in the same amount of space as a coin? A dog picked up in a tornado who finds his way home?

Find ways to use your blog to share something unexpected. A business blog that tells a joke? A financial advisor telling you about how to spend your money instead of save it? Is there a way to work against the assumptions surrounding your niche?

Be careful not to be inconsistent within your company’s image. But you can play up anything about your company that sets you apart from your competition.

Concreteness

Don’t be content with abstractions, telling your customers that your high performance products will increase efficiency and make life better. Instead, look for ways to show them.

The Heath brothers include a story about a CSPI nutrition campaign in 1992 telling the public how much fat was in movie theater popcorn. The message: “A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings – combined!” At the news release, the CSPI even set out a table illustrating this fact much more vividly than if they had simply pointed out that a medium bag of popcorn contains 37 grams of saturated fat.

How can you make what your company does real to your audience? Use your blog posts to illustrate and inform your audience about your company and products, not just meaningless mission statements.

Credibility

A main reason for having a company blog is to establish your place as an authority on your subject matter. Make sure each of your posts relays information that your audience needs. Give vivid, specific details about how to do something. How-to articles also make your authority testable – your readers can follow your recommendations and see that it works for them.

Statistics are another great way to make your posts real and credible. Back up some of your posts with research, and be sure to include where you got official statistics for an added dose of authority.

Emotional

People respond the most when they see the benefit for themselves. Instead of just spelling out blogging techniques that work for the average blogger, write about “blogging techniques you can use today.” Appeal to people’s desire to benefit themselves.

However, self-interest is not the only emotional appeal that works. The Heath brothers point out that people also look to their own idealized self-image to make decisions, asking “What would someone like me do?” You can point out that your product is best for detail-oriented executives, or moms who want to put their children first. Help people see themselves the way they want to be seen.

Stories

The last element of the SUCCESs rubric is the easiest to explain, and encompasses a number of qualities from the other categories. Simply put, illustrate your company using stories. Tell stories that epitomize the corporate culture of the workplace. Tell stories of the changes made by a customer because of your product. Tell stories.

These stories shouldn’t be made up. Instead, you should be ready to notice a good (and unexpected) story when it comes along, and then tell it in the most simple, detailed, and emotional way possible. Show people what you can’t tell them, and watch as they transition from readers to fans, and even to customers because of your ideas that stick.